The Redemption
by The Darkness Knight
Summary: Tensions run high for Team Arrow following the death of Count Vertigo as not only does the H.I.V.E. organization begin its move but a new business partner in Queen Consolidated could spell trouble for Oliver and Laurel's relationship. This is Oliver's greatest test yet. Barry Allen/Felicity, OC/Laurel, Roy/Thea, past Ollie/Shado, John/Lyla
1. Chapter 1:The King of Starling

**Okay, so this story follows the episode that premiered last week _State v. Queen, _and it does follow everything from that, trust me when I say Barry Allen will be appearing in this as well as some old Arrow characters as well as some new ones with a lot of inspiration drawn from Smallville.**

It had been a month, a month since his mother's trial, the one that he was expecting to be the one thing that she wouldn't get away with, Moira Queen had gotten away with too much in his opinion, teaming up with the mad terrorist Malcolm Merlyn, letting over five hundred people die…and one of them was his best friend Tommy.

For Oliver Queen, this wasn't the ideal life he led, single with women issues, running a company he didn't want to run and having to fight crime in a green hood with a bow and arrow, it wasn't what he thought he would be doing, frankly…if he had his way, Oliver would have stayed on Lian Yu.

Tommy's death shook him up, a little bit too much, his best friend sacrificed himself so Laurel could live, and Laurel was hunting him down as the Arrow for the first month of him being back in the city, though that changed after the Dollmaker was killed.

Now it was just simpler, though he knew the rift that formed between him and Felicity, his IT expert was grown bigger, it was bad enough she had to be annoying throughout the day, he knew she was picking him up in Moscow to go get Diggle out of the Gulag, and she….had to walk in on Isabel Rochev leaving his hotel room, though he told her it was easier for him to be with someone he didn't care about, and then everything with Count Vertigo….he knew she was broken, but he felt like he was redeeming himself with her because of the Vertigo incident.

Though what he saw right now, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up on edge.

There was Isabel and Felicity who was behind her desk near his office talking with some new guy, and they were laughing, while yes, he wouldn't mind seeing Felicity having fun, but Isabel? And she was laughing? Not something you ever see, he only ever saw her smile was when she was full of tequila in the hotel bar in Russia.

As Oliver opened the door, he managed to hear the rest of the conversation this new guy was saying, he was wearing a Wall Street style black sport jacket with a red tie, a white shirt and black pants.

"And the guy looks at me and he's like….dude, I think you have your shoes on the wrong foot."

The girls laughed as Oliver approached "Isabel…Felicity, and…"

"Oh sorry sir, where are my manners?" The man extended out a hand "Arthur King, I've heard nothing but good things from these two lovely ladies."

Oliver shook his hand and realized something….he looked like Malcolm Merlyn, ice blue eyes, cross chopped dark brown hair, only thing that separated them was the smile…it reminded him of Tommy.

"You wouldn't happen to be…"

"No Mister Queen," Arthur smiled "Your secretary almost called security on me, I'm not related to the Merlyn's in anyway shape or form. We just have a resemblance to each other I guess."

He nodded to Isabel as the trio walked inside the board room "So what can we do for you Mister King? Other than you flirting with my business partner and secretary." Oliver sat down at the end of the table and leaned back

Isabel rolled her eyes at the flirting statement as she took a seat next to Oliver, and King took a seat across from Isabel, he took out a tablet from his briefcase that he carried with him and fired it up.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself more properly, Arthur King, CEO of King Enterprises in Bludhaven, I've come here hoping to establish a future partnership with Queen Consolidated, we mostly deal with marketing products and we're working with an astronomical unit, we're hoping to get a space expedition to Mars."

"You honestly believe in the theory that there are aliens living on Mars?" Isabel asked with an annoyed tone in her voice

"Eh, I don't know about you Isabel, but if there is the possibility of other life in the universe, I damn well don't want to be on the bad side when they invade the Earth trying to kill us all." Arthur smiled

Oliver took a look at the tablet, he did feel paranoid about him, this guy did rub him off wrong, he would have to have Felicity look into King Enterprises and see what their deal…was if there even was one.

"We'll Mister King, we'll have to take a look into this." Oliver nodded "And we'll call you in a few days after talking with the investors."

"Of course." He peaked his head around and noticed Felicity was gone "Be sure to say goodbye to Felicity, I think she liked me." He turned to Isabel and kissed her knuckles "Miss Rochev, a pleasure."

She smiled again as Arthur walked out of the board room, Oliver took a sigh and pulled out his phone "Diggle, bring the car around."

* * *

"What do you mean the company is legit?"

"Checked into it." Felicity rolled around to the computer inside the Arrowcave "King Enterprises came into Bludhaven after the earthquake there, bought out the whole town and acted like Lex Luthor in Metropolis."

"Yet why does he look like Merlyn?" Oliver didn't look at them, his eyes fixed on his costume

"Just a sheer chance of luck." Felicity tucked her hair behind her ear "You don't trust him do you?"

"No, no I don't, something just urks me about him, I just have a feeling something is going to happen."

"Oliver, you've been jumpy since your mother's trial ended, I know you don't trust the situation and the outcome, but you need to move on." John Diggle replied calmly

"Diggle, if I wasn't able to move on from something, then the Glades would be completely destroyed….and Tommy would still be alive."

"I understand that Oliver, but you moved on from Tommy, now since you killed Vertigo, you feel like you betrayed your code didn't you?"

Oliver rolled his eyes as Felicity stood to check on something from one of the smart projectors, he got closer to Diggle "It was because of Felicity, Sara killed the Dollmaker to protect Laurel, I…something just snapped in my head, I honestly don't know what happened…."

"Oliver did you think that maybe it's because you were worried for her? I mean, you and I, we can defend ourselves in a situation, but Felicity…she doesn't have the training, let alone the restraint. Maybe it's because you care about her."

Oliver chuckled "Diggle, I explained this when she found me and Isabel Rochev together in Moscow, I just think….with our line of work, it would be easier if I wasn't with someone I care about."

"That makes sense but…"

"Dig, if the same situation came up for you and Lyla, would you kill for her?"

"Yes, yes I would." John replied "I would do that no matter what Oliver, because I know she'll be fine, she'll worry, but she'll be fine."

"Well, I'm glad to know you're so calm about all this."

"Oliver, we have a problem!" Felicity called out

Oliver and Diggle walked over to the computer and Felicity rolled over to the third screen and flipped the police radio application.

"_All units all units, we have a ten beta alpha, protocol zero, multiple deaths, at least a five person body count." _

"_Do we have a location and a suspect?" _

"_We believe it is the Vigilante, we're not sure, and the arrows are black."_

"_Is it Malcolm Merlyn? Is he back?"_

Oliver didn't wait for the radio to respond back to the final message, it was enough to get his attention, and he immediately opened up the weapons case and grabbed hold of his compound bow.

**Alright, I'm going to jump right into the action next chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed this and expect this to be like the first fight between Malcolm Merlyn and Oliver during the Christmas episode last year.**


	2. Chapter 2: Archer v Archer

Frank Bertinelli ran for his life, he ducked behind cover as another one of his men fell to the ground. He took a breath of relief, he was safe for now. Since his daughter almost killed him last year, he returned to Starling under a false name, he knew doing so was dangerous, but his contacts that remained in the city informed him she was gone, from what he heard, she was captured by some criminal organization in known as Checkmate out in Mount Rushmore.

He heard feet approach him, his breath hitched and he held it as the figure was towering near his position behind a wall, a sudden breath and the figure was over him, he felt himself lifted by the figure and tossed across the rooftop, coughing as the dirt and dust entered his lungs.

"Frank Bertinelli, your time has come." The figure announced in a deep voice

Another arrow was primed, and casted but it was struck by another, a green one, both Frank and the figure turned to the Arrow leaping down from the rising platform he was on, and he managed to get a good look at the figure and he realized one thing….it wasn't Malcolm Merlyn.

His uniform covered only his upper body, from what it looked like, it was a leather top lined with Kevlar, showing the figure's bare arms with no scars or tattoos, a pair of black gauntlets over his arms with flechettes, a pure black with a hood over the figure's head with two quiver's on his back with six arrows in each side, black bottoms with boots as well.

"Get out of here! I'll deal with you later!" The Arrow yelled to Bertinelli, his voice modulator in full use

Frank didn't wait twice, he immediately made a run for a fire escape and made his escape, the two arches held their compound bows in the opposite hands, they walked around in a circle, both of their eyes watching each other.

"Well, well," The Dark Archer smiled under his hood "The famous Vigilante of Starling City, I was hoping for the day we would meet. I'm eager to see who the superior one is."

"The only thing you're going to see is yourself in a padded cell."

"I'm sure Count Vertigo thought that way as well."

That made him snap, The Arrow drew an arrow from his quiver and fired it, The Dark Archer caught it before it even made contact anywhere near his face.

"Did you really think I would be trained in archer without that skill?" He turned the arrow in his fingers and snapped it in half "Now, I'm sure Yao Fei wouldn't want to see his skills go to such a waste."

"What are you implying?" The Arrow asked

"Oh I'm sure you'll find out…Oliver Queen."

Oliver's eyes went wide with surprise, how did he know "How do you know who I am?"

"Simple. Malcolm Merlyn sends his regards." The Dark Archer went on the assault

With a swing of his bow like a club, the Dark Archer ducked and slammed his own into Oliver's back, he primed an arrow and fired it, Oliver ducked and rolled and fired one of his own with lighting fast reflexes; the Dark Archer grabbed it and threw it back at Oliver who barely managed to dodge it.

"What do you mean Malcolm Merlyn sent you?"

The Dark Archer stood "Simple, he sent me to exact the one thing you're known for….revenge. Now come on, show me the anger you had when Vertigo nearly killed your IT girlfriend!"

Oliver felt his blood boil as he primed his arrows and fired three, the Dark Archer grabbed them both and kicked the other "And there it is, the Vigilante, the killer, the one whose responsible for Tommy Merlyn's death and Count Vertigo. Tell me Queen, do you really think you can honor your friend's memory? Killing is all you know, it's all you've ever known."

"Enough!" Oliver yelled

He went on the offensive, priming another arrow and fired it, the Dark Archer dodged it and grabbed an arrow of his own, firing it and watched as it slammed into Oliver's shoulder, Oliver cried out in pain as another was fired into his shoulder, finally one near his heart.

The Dark Archer removed them and grabbed him by the throat "So…so now you know how it feels, how it feels to be defeated by someone who's better than you. I want you to always remember this moment for the rest of your life," He clutched Oliver's throat removing his hood "with my hand on your throat, I want you to remember this moment for the rest of your life, I want you to remember the one man who beat you…"

Police sirens rang out from below, Oliver looked out along with the Dark Archer, he sighed "Well, we'll have to finish this again sometime, for now, you'll need to not be arrested."

The Dark Archer grabbed Oliver by the hem of his shirt and tossed him through the foundation of a weak wall, his body flew down and he managed to catch himself long enough to grab hold of a ledge and pull himself through the building and into the alley way.

He tried to catch his breath, he knew how hard it was, and this wasn't the first time he got himself into a situation like this…

* * *

_Five years prior…._

Sara led them, with Shado behind her while Oliver had Slade Wilson's arm hung over his shoulder.

"How much farther is this sub?" Oliver shouted

"Not much further." Sara replied _Hopefully Ivo hasn't found it yet_

Sure, this wasn't the ideal choice, going against the man who saved her from turning into one of his experiments, but she knew saving the human race was the more ideal choice. But to her, Oliver's safety mattered more.

"What did you mean…it could save the human race?" Shado asked Sara

"Ivo never said, all he told me was that it was his goal, and that the sub here was housing it."

"Let's just hope the serum hasn't gone dead yet." Slade grunted in pain "Pick it up already!"

They walked in silence through the jungle, the only sound overhead were the birds flying overhead or the other animals like squirrels or monkeys going through the trees, of course Slade's grunts of pain weren't helping their outlook.

Oliver felt his legs gave out as he set Slade down on a stump, this caught the girl's attention but he smiled and winked at Shado "Go on ahead, we'll catch up."

"So, I take it you know her? The blonde."

"You could say that." Oliver took a sigh "You remember the girl I showed you last year? The one I had waiting for me back home."

"Don't tell me that's her. Doesn't look a thing like her kid."

"No, it's her sister, I cheated on my girl with her sister and I thought…I thought she died."

"Well, obviously she's very much alive, now come on, we're not going to let them get ahead."

Oliver smiled and helped Slade up onto his feet and they resumed walking through the forest line.

When the trees and bushes cleared, they were revealed to the ocean surrounding the island and Sara and Shado were waiting.

"Sara? Is that it?" Oliver asked

She nodded without a word, playing with her necklace, out along the ocean docked on the beach was a long black submarine, with the Japanese logo on the control tower.

**Okay, another chapter down, I hope you enjoy this story so far, I know, I'm having fun writing this, don't worry, there will be some answers coming up in a few more chapters, there are definitely some secrets here.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Toy's man

The night time gave way to a benefit being held at the King Penthouse, Arthur held it so he could get to know some of the high price citizens of Starling, various friends of Queen Consolidated's CEO's and supporters of the cause.

He couldn't see Oliver but Isabel Rochev was in full view, a raven black dress with her hair balanced down both of her shoulders, she really was strikingly beautiful but something did throw him off of dating her, it was her smile, she wore her smile like it was a school uniform, the kind of uniform no one wanted to wear but you had to for appearances and that was how she wore it, whenever she wasn't talking to someone and trying to make an appearance, she wore a thick scowl over her crimson colored lips, the scowl did nothing for her.

"Arthur." Isabel smiled at her, this one he could see was genuine

"Isabel." Arthur smiled and kissed her hand

She leaned against the table he was at and stood beside him, sipping from a glass of Champaign, Arthur smiled "Well, things seem to be going well."

"Only once again, Oliver is not here again." She rolled her eyes

"It seems like you don't like him too much do you?"

She hummed in her throat for a minute "No, I have more respect for him after our trip to the Moscow office, do I still think he's an idiot and he doesn't care about the company's future? Yes, but do I think he's trying, yes."

"So you're annoyed by him, but you respect him. What a weird combination."

Isabel and Arthur watched as John Diggle escorted Oliver inside who seemed to be a little stiff, Arthur nodded to Isabel and walked over to Queen.

"Something happen Oliver?"

"Accident, slipped, fell and hurt my back." Oliver sighed

"Well, it happens to all of us." Arthur smiled as his eyes began to wander

They locked onto someone in the crowd, the woman was standing next to a well-dressed man with brown hair and blue eyes, the woman's dirty blonde hair went down toward her chest, a red dress framed her curves beautifully.

"Something wrong with Laurel Mister King?"

Arthur looked at Oliver "You know her?"

He nodded "Do you want me to introduce you?"

"Oh no….you don't…"

He didn't even realize Laurel and the man were walking toward them, he never realized it but his face had turned red as he took a gulp from his Champaign glass.

"Laurel, glad to see you could make it." Oliver smiled

She smiled back "Of course." The two old friends gently hugged each other, though Oliver tried to hide the wince as she touched his shoulders "Who's this?"

"Right, Arthur King, this is Laurel Lance and her boss Adam Donner, assistant district attorneys to Starling City."

"Pleasure Mister Donner." Both men shook hands

"Are you new to Starling Mister King? I don't think I've seen you before."

"I'm here on business, working out a deal with Oliver and Mrs. Rochev." Arthur turned to Laurel, a warm smile spread on his face but he couldn't get the words out

"Sorry about him Laurel, he has a tendency to get his tongue tied in these situations." Oliver smiled

"Yeah," He didn't feel like himself "I'm sorry about that Mrs. Lance." He gently kissed her hand which caused her to smile

"No need to apologize, Adam, what do you to getting Mister King another drink." Her eyes locked onto his

"Laurel, are you…"

"Please?" She looked at her boss with a smile

"Alright then. Oliver." Adam walked away with a sigh escaping his lips

Oliver could feel his phone go off in his pocket "Excuse me please."

Walking away he found that it was Felicity who was calling him, he turned the phone on receive "Felicity, what's wrong?"

"Oliver, where are you right now?"

"At Arthur's penthouse with Diggle. Why?"

"I did a scan on the building and something didn't seem right… you need to get everyone out, there's…"

An explosion rocked the entire foundation of the building with the smoke and flames erupting from one point, Oliver saw most of the people were on the ground, screaming came from all corners and fires were encasing some of the party goers, Diggle saved Isabel while Arthur had saved Laurel and Adam.

People were actually on fire, running around screaming in pain

"Felicity, what the hell happened?"

* * *

Police sirens rang out as the SCPD began taking statements from the remaining survivors were rounded up and brought out, taking statements.

"And that's what happened." Arthur explained as he began to look at the damage

The white walls now had various spots of black and the furniture was destroyed. Arthur let a sigh escape his lips.

"Don't worry Mister King, we'll figure out who did this," Quentin Lance told him "I am grateful for you protecting my daughter."

"Laurel's you're…"

Quentin did nothing but nod with a stern look on her face, this gave Arthur a spine chill with a look of concern on his face.

"I do appreciate it kid." Lance put a hand on Arthur's shoulder "To be honest, compared to some of the other guys I saw her with," he looked at Oliver Queen "you are one I can trust."

"No problem sir." He reached into his coat pocket "I need to take this."

Oliver and Diggle walked out of the room as Oliver held his phone to his ear "Felicity, you'd better have an explanation as to what happened."

"_I do, you'd better get back here now."_

* * *

Felicity was already moving between computers when Oliver and Diggle walked down the stairs, while John went over to the main touch screen and Oliver stood behind Felicity.

"Okay, after what happened with the Count, I've been looking around at the various places you've visited, you know, just in case, and look at this from the security camera outside King's hotel room."

The security feed showed a man in a tuxedo, more than likely one of the help walk inside the room and didn't leave.

"Now watch what happens when I x-ray the footage and see inside the room." Felicity clicked another few keys

The footage played again, the same helper walked through the room and placed something on a shelf in the room.

"And where's its positioned based on the blue print on the hotel room," Felicity pressed another few keys and the second screen showed the schematic design of the hotel room "Looks like they placed it right near the hot air shaft."

"Diggle," Oliver turned to John "Any insight into this? Military expertise."

"I would say…C-four, possibly a high grade explosive based on the damage it did, and the heat from the shaft may have caused it to spread faster." Diggle explained

"So we're dealing with an explosive expert…." Oliver walked over to his bow "I need background on the attendants at the party, find out who might have a vendetta against Arthur King."

"Where are you going?"

"I have a lead to follow." Oliver cracked the case open

* * *

"You didn't have to drive me home, I could have taken a cab."

"And at this time of the night and based on what happened, I wouldn't want it any other way Miss Lance."

Arthur King sat in the driver's seat of his Mazda five with Laurel in the passenger's seat, his jacket draped over her shoulders.

"So…" Arthur started a conversation "I take it you've known Oliver for a while?"

She smiled gently "Since we were kids, I practically grew up in that house, then we dated…and I take it you met my father."

"That I did, he seemed to like me."

"Well, I'm sure that he was just having a good night, he has never liked the guys I brought home a lot."

"Ah, have a thing for the bad boys now do we Miss Lance?" He smiled

She chuckled "I don't know, guess it's just the result of having the job I have."

"So, were you always with the DA?"

"No, I originally was with a small law firm in the Glades."

"Canary right?" Arthur asked

She chuckled "No, CNRI, after the earthquake, we weren't able to go back to work and I worked for the DA."

Arthur nodded and pulled into the parking lot above her apartment complex, the walk up was quick and quiet. Laurel smiled as they approached her door.

"You really didn't have to do this."

Arthur smiled "Well, I wanted to redeem myself for what I did earlier, didn't seem fair to you."

"What? You mean you acting like a buffoon during a party for you?" She smiled at him

"Yeah, that's exactly what I meant." Arthur smiled as Laurel slipped her key into the door and opened it

Just as she was about to go inside, Arthur took a step "Laurel…I know this may be a little bold…but I was hoping we could…do this again sometime? Maybe over lunch?"

She looked at him "You sure?"

"Absolutely."

Laurel thought about it for a moment, sure, this was the first man she dated since Tommy died, maybe this was what she needed.

"Why don't you stop off at the DA's office tomorrow? And we'll see how it goes."

He smiled "Great."

They hugged and she closed the door behind her leaving Arthur on the outside. As he began to walk away, his hand went to his phone "Please tell me you have something."

* * *

The figure stalked down the road, he seemed completed disorientated, his body was huge, his skin seemed almost a greenish color and seemed scaly, he was tall, going almost at six foot seven with muscles that seemed like the size of giant rocks, and his eyes were blood red.

SCPD members were surrounding the street he was heading on, they had him blocked, and Lieutenant Pike grabbed hold of the microphone.

"Waylon Jones! You are surrounded, give up now and we'll help you." Pike yelled into the microphone

Officer Lance stood off to the side by the final car, he didn't know, but he was being watched, The Arrow watched from a rooftop looking down at the big creature as it turned to face the officers.

"I'm telling ya Lieutenant, this one aien't too bright."

"He looks like a freakin' crocodile." Lance spoke silently

Jones turned to face them "I'm Killer Croc! This brain ain't for fryin!"

Croc began to charge quickly, his body moving with huge stomps on the roads already destroyed by the Glades as he swung one of his arms, slamming it into one of the cop cars, using his strength, he lifted and tossed it.

Lance jumped onto his stomach as Pike fell forward, Croc charged and leapt forward slamming his fists into the ground, shockwaves sent the remaining officers down, then he turned his head to Officer Lance, who drew his gun and fired a few shots from the pistol.

"Ain'tcha heard? Crocodiles got real tough hide! But you... you got nowhere t'hide..." Croc snarled as he raised a hand to the Officer

An arrow flew through the air slamming into Croc's palm, he glared up to see The Arrow standing over them "Get away from him!"

Croc slammed his hand into a fist breaking the one half of the arrow then ripped out the other, sending it toward the vigilante, before he could draw another, something else hit it, a black arrow. Oliver looked over to the Dark Archer standing on a rooftop above him.

The Dark Archer looked down at Oliver and decided against it "Hello Jones, I see someone finally let you out of your cage."

"I have your scent!" Croc roared "You'll never escape!"

"Then it's a good thing you're not going to be living." The Dark Archer drew three arrows, primed them and fired

The black trio of arrows soared and slammed into Croc's legs causing him to fall to the ground on his stomach, the Dark Archer jumped and landed in front of him.

"If you think…I'm gonna let you live…your sadly mistaken….Mer…."He felt a sharp pain enter his throat as the Dark Archer slammed an arrow into his throat

"Don't ever call me that again." He mumbled as Oliver helped Quentin to his feet "Now, who let you out Croc?" his hand ripped the arrow out

It didn't hit anything major, Croc shook his head then glared with his beady red eyes "Oh you'll find out soon enough who hired me, he has plans for this city and when he's through with it….you'll be worms….like you'll be for my dinner DARK ARCHER!" He raised his mouth and attempted to slam them on the Archer

In one move, he rotated his body, primed an arrow and fired making impact on Croc's behind, a static bolt shook out followed by a stream as Croc passed out on the ground.

"You killed him?" Lance asked

"No, it was nothing more than enough voltage to knock him out, now you can move him back to the sewers."

As the Dark Archer slipped his bow onto his back and reached for his leg, drawing a matching black crossbow, Oliver stepped forward "Why didn't you kill me? This is the second time we met and you could have killed me."

"It is in my code not to kill someone equal to my skill set, and you match me." The Dark Archer turned "This city is infected, and I'm here to deliver the cure."

With a split second, he primed his crossbow and fired, the bolt shot out and took him with it into the air.

* * *

Laurel sat alone in her apartment, a glass of red wine beside her, she had calmed down her drinking sure, but now it just seemed natural…after everything she had been through, how could she not?

Sure, her father tried to justify what happened to him, his obsessive drinking led him to be a border line alcoholic, her mom left him and he threw himself into the Dollmaker case. Of course, now the Dollmaker was taking his toll on her, that, mixed with Tommy's death and the case…what she learned about Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn terrified her.

She reached into her purse and grabbed the bottle of pills she had been carrying around, since the Dollmaker, she hadn't been sleeping well at all, every day she felt like she had to look over her shoulder, wondering if someone was going to jump out and grab her, turn her into a doll and glue up her lungs.

She took a breath and swallowed them, drinking the wine down and exhaled her breath, letting her eyes close and the back of her head lay against the wall.

* * *

Croc's eyes slowly began to open, the smell of waste and dirty water entered his nose as he stood. He was back in his cell in the sewers again.

"Hello Croc."

Croc came into focus as the Dark Archer was sitting on a wooden crate, his bow positioned on the ground in front of him so both of his hands sat on the top.

"What the hell do you want?" Croc growled

"We couldn't talk after the Officer and Vigilante showed up. So, now you're going to tell me who you're working for."

"And if I don't?" Croc charged only to feel a surge of electricity enter his body

He immediately fell backwards and felt a metallic collar around his neck.

"Like it? That little baby will usher in ten thousand volts into your system every time you go out of line." The Archer stood and drew his bow, he primed two arrows and fired

Both of them passed through the bars and slammed into Croc's shoulders, as he fell back the Archer approached the cage.

"Every time you don't tell me what I want to hear, you'll get another, and I…" Archer slammed his foot into the crate, revealing at least a hundred arrows "have plenty to spare."

* * *

The next morning Felicity sat at her desk, her earpiece was buzzing with appointments and various calls since what happened the night before.

"Yes, Mister Queen and Miss Rochev will be there tomorrow for the lunch." She smiled and filed another report on her tablet

This wasn't the most ideal job in the world, frankly, she hated it, she was practically the head of IT and now she was Oliver's secretary, she gently moved her blonde hair away from her glasses, leaving a bit to trail down her left shoulder while the rest trailed down her back, one thing she noticed was that her darker colored hair was starting to come back.

A figure approached the desk, he gently cleared his throat causing Felicity to look up "Can I help you?"

He held out a hand, he wore a suit with a poke-a-dot colored bow tie, his brown hair was long, nearly reaching down to his shoulders and it was curled, he wore full moon glasses over his eyes with a blue tint in them.

"Yes, I'm Winslow Schott, and I was hoping I could see Mister Queen."

Felicity shook his hand, feeling a bit of either grease or hair jell in his hand, frankly, she didn't want to know as she wiped her hand clean and put hand sanitizer on it "For what purpose?"

"Oh I used to work here, back when Robert ran things, I was hoping I could talk to him about getting my old job back."

"Well, Mister Queen is in a meeting now across town with some investors, but if you want, you can take a seat in the lobby."

"Of course Miss…"

"Smoak, Felicity Smoak."

"The Felicity Smoak? From the IT department? I heard so much!" His tone was mysterious, almost like he was excited

"You heard of me?"

"Of course! How could anyone not hear about you? You practically ran the IT department and now you're a secretary?"

"Job change, after what happened I just…didn't feel right in IT."

"Ah," he pulled a seat up "So you and Mister Queen…?"

"No" Felicity said immediately "not that I wouldn't…I mean, he's amazing….not that I don't think the world of him…I mean I do but…"

Winslow smiled, this was going to be interesting.

**Alright, so more characters are coming in! Now we have Killer Croc and Winslow Scott joining the cast! I'm really happy with how many people have liked this story because I'm loving it too! Anyway, chapter 4 will be up soon which will be the beginning of the first two part chapter set. Hope everyone enjoys!**


	4. Chapter 4: Toyman's Arrow Part 1

Oliver walked through the main reception area leading to his office, he didn't even blink as his mind played back what happened the night before with Killer Croc.

"_This city is infected, and I'm here to deliver the cure." _

What made this Malcolm Merlyn want-a-be think he was a cure for this city? More importantly, who was he trying to save Starling from? Obviously the League of Assassins was targeting the city, but there were two others, Isabel Rochev…and Sebastian Blood.

Isabel was definitely a woman of many traits, ever since the rescue mission to Moscow to save Lyla Michaels, he had seen a different side of her, though he knew why he did it….or at least he told himself. Sure, she was a lot like him…but he always did wonder if it was because of what happened on the island that made him that way, he couldn't care about anyone while he did the work he did….and he could see how much it pained him to see Felicity so….disappointed in him for sleeping with her.

Then there was the alderman, Sebastian Blood, there was a lot to him he didn't understand, where he came from, why did he choose Starling City…what secret was he hiding? If there was one thing Oliver learned on the island…everyone had a secret.

* * *

_Five years prior…_

Slade groaned loudly in pain as he was lowered down the hatch of the submarine and was caught by Oliver and Shado who immediately propped him against a wall.

Sara stood by the door, which was a large metal hatch, Oliver looked back over at Slade with a concerned look on his face; Slade groaned in pain as Oliver began to notice the black paste on his face was beginning to fade.

"Slade, we're going on ahead, we'll be right back."

"Go on, I'm not going anywhere." He let his head rest against a wall.

The three of them traveled forward quickly and in silence, Oliver was concerned, he had kept his affair with Sara a secret from Shado, he cared about her, he really did, but he knew that if she found out who he was…what he really was, that he wasn't just some random survivor of a boat crash, but a playboy billionaire who was so concerned about keeping his reputation up that he hurt the woman he loved but could also hurt Shado…it was not something he wanted to do.

They soon reached the medical bay, Shado immediately squatted down to a crate on the ground as Oliver and Sara began to search the cabinets. The Chinese girl lifted the crate's hatch and let a sigh of relief escape her lips.

"I got it."

Oliver bent down and Shado handed him a copy of the drug which was in a plastic wrap, he immediately pulled it off and was face to face with a green liquid inside of a syringe with a cork on the needle.

"So is this all we need to help him?" Oliver turned to Sara

She let a breath finally escape, she was scared Oliver could see that much "He'll need a sedative."

As Shado began to look around the other cabinets she finally found a case for the drug "It's empty."

"And what'll happen if we give it to him without a sedative?"

"He'll die."

"He'll die anyway if we don't do something." Shado replied with a concerned and angry tone in her voice

Thumping could be heard from the upper floor, the three companions looked up.

"What was that?" Oliver asked

"Its Ivo, he's found the sub." Sara let her fear escape into her voice

* * *

Oliver blinked out of his thoughts as the door to his room opened and Felicity walked in, she didn't say a word and set a file on his desk and walked out, there was something about her, her movement seemed…robotic.

"Felicity?" Oliver called out

She turned to face him, Oliver did have to admit; she came a long way from being that simple IT girl that was recruited by his step-father to investigate the list.

"Sorry Oliver, just have a lot on my mind."

"You look tired. Didn't sleep well?"

She shook her head "The whole Count Vertigo thing still has me shaken up a bit."

"Why don't you go home? Take the rest of the afternoon off and get some sleep."

"No, no I'm fine, just need to…" She was stopped by Oliver putting a hand on her arm

"Felicity, go on ahead home, I can handle it." He smiled at her

She looked at him, there was an amount of sincerity in his eyes, she nodded and let her arm go, she gently removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes "Thanks, I'll see you tonight."

"Don't worry about tonight either Felicity, I highly doubt there will be anything tonight. Just get some sleep."

She nodded again and slipped her glasses back on, grabbing her coat and her purse and walked out, again, her movement seemed a bit off, almost like she was in pain.

This caused Oliver to become more concerned as he sat down at his desk.

* * *

The night time soon came and Queen Consolidated closed for the night, the night time security were the only people there as Felicity walked back inside of the office, her fingers gently touched an ear piece.

"You won't get away with this…you know that."

"_Oh don't worry about me Miss Smoak, it's not me you should be worried about." _

A small shock entered Felicity's neck, she staggered for a moment and felt her eyes roll, a calm breath escaped her mouth as she opened her eyes and proceeded straight forward heading for the computer at her desk, Oliver once told her that these computers were better than a normal secretary had and based on what she had managed to figure out, they were better than she had at IT.

She sat down at the computer and slipped the flash drive she was carrying into the side of the computer screen, she pressed a few keys and hit the enter key.

What she didn't anticipate was a security guard entering the main hallway "Hello?"

Felicity didn't answer, she kept her focus as she continued to type on the keys and the screens began to glow a bright light. The guard approached and lowered his gun "Oh, Miss Smoak, you scared me."

"It's alright, I'm just catching up on some work I missed this afternoon." Felicity didn't take her eyes off of the screen

"Mister Queen didn't…"

She let her back rest back in the chair as she let a sigh escape her lips "There, done." She stood and prepared to leave

The guard walked around to the computer when he noticed the screen was still lit "Uh Miss Smoak, you are aware you…"

"_Don't worry about him. It's time to finish playing today." _

That was when he saw it, the screens had uploaded to one hundred percent a protocol which lowered the firewalls, the second screen showed a virus upload, he drew his gun from his belt "Miss Smoak, I'm afraid you're going to have to stay here." He tapped his radio "Contact Mister Queen, let him know there's been a security breach."

Felicity's eyes went wide as she felt her body let go, the guard didn't see her slip on anything as she fell to the floor and passed out into unconsciousness.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me Oliver!" Isabel yelled

The clock hit five in the morning, Oliver paced the floor with the guard and Diggle standing in the back, Felicity was in one of the chairs in the board room with a blanket wrapped around her and Isabel was pacing the floor in her ballerina flats, a pair of slacks and a blouse, her hair was a bit of a mess, Oliver was no better, a dark gray t-shirt, a pair of jeans and his sneakers.

"You're insisting she keeps her job? Who knows what can be taken because of all this?" Isabel yelled again

"Isabel! You're reacting over nothing, we have the best IT department…"

"Correction." She pointed a finger at Felicity "She was the best of the IT department, and now because your little girlfriend has breached us, who knows how long it'll take to recover!"

The door outside of the board room was tapped lightly by a man about five foot ten with light brown hair and blue eyes, he wore a black t-shirt and jeans.

"Sorry to interrupt, I'm Lucas Carr, I'm the technician from Checkmate you called in?"

"Of course, just tell us the damage." Isabel practically shouted with an annoyed tone

"Jeeze, chill out you crazy…"

Isabel's face was raised from her hand, giving him the death stare which caused Lucas' back to receive a chill.

"Right Miss Rochev, based on what I can tell…" his fingers went to his tablet and slid over the screen as his other hand began to snap "You guys are screwed pretty badly, so far….at least seventy-five thousand dollars have been taken from your secured profits and moved to an off shore account, and those Trojans have lowered your firewalls to the point you'll need to hire a private firm just to get yourself back to at least an order where you can operate again."

"So you're saying we're not safe?"

"I'd say that someone like you Miss Rochev could do a corporate takeover and Queen's Consolidated wouldn't stand a chance, it even looks like your stocks are being bought out." Lucas looked at his screen "I mean, later on we could prove fraud, but we'll need to get a cybercrime department down here ASA…"

The door opened and Arthur King walked in the room, he wore a black polo and a pair of blue jeans "Sorry I'm late everyone, had to stop off for my coffee, someone want to fill me in?" He took a sip of his coffee cup

"Yeah, it's called our former IT girl is going to be gone in and in Iron Heights." Isabel approached

Arthur rolled his eyes as he looked at Felicity, she looked terrified as a small dark gray round object sat on the table "What's that?"

"When she fainted, I found it on her neck." The guard spoke up

Arthur approached and took the disk "Oh dear god, Miss Rochev, don't get at Felicity, this is mine."

"What!?" She and Oliver both yelled

"Yeah, this was made by my company, it was designed to create the perfect soldier but the project got scrapped. A few months ago, we had a break in at our Metropolis office and a large crate of these were taken."

"Do you have any leads?"

"No, the Metropolis PD was looking into it and they never got back to me." He looked at Felicity and smiled at her "So don't worry about Miss Smoak, I'll fly my IT department in from Bludhaven and we'll get your firewalls fixed."

"That still doesn't count for the thousands of dollars that were taken."

Arthur began to walk toward the door and looked back at her "Don't worry, I'm sure Oliver will figure it out." With that he walked out

* * *

As he went to the elevator, a figure grabbed him by the shoulder, Arthur turned to Lucas standing beside him "Where were you last night?"

"I had some business to take care of out of town Lucas." Arthur mumbled as the pair got into the elevator and he pressed a button "Did you send the package out?"

"Yup, took care of it last night." Lucas kept snapping his fingers "You do know we needed you last night right?"

"I can't always be there Lucas, you should know that by now." The door opened on the ground floor "Look, get Rose and meet me tonight, I have something else to take care of."

* * *

A courier walked through the halls of the DA's office, he passed several people, looking around confused.

"Yes sir, Councilor Donner will be there tomorrow." A voice spoke through a telephone "Of course your honor."

"Councilor Lance?"

Laurel held up a pen as she put the phone down on the receiver, the courier pulled out a square brown box which caught the attention of some of Laurel's co-workers including Adam Donner and Kate Spenser who watched from afar.

"What is this?"

"All I was told was deliver it to you councilor." The courier smiled as Laurel signed off on his tablet, he stepped back "I have my orders to wait."

Laurel opened the box and found a walkie-talkie sitting inside, it sparked with life as she picked it up, but before she could speak, a voice entered the receiver.

"_I hate it when a guy calls a girl, who did not give him her number, so this is me not calling. Over." _

She smiled and felt her face blush "You were supposed to stop by the office Arthur."

"_Had a situation at Queen's Consolidated. Listen, I've been thinking since I couldn't find you, why not a do over, you've been stressed out since the case against Moira Queen, and I was hoping you would accompany me to dinner on Friday." _

She shook her head "I can't, I'm going to be in court till late."

"_Ah, the District Attorney's never sleep."_

"Not until about six in the morning."

"_Saturday?" _

Laurel rolled her eyes as she caught them with Donner "I uh…have an event to attend."

"_Do you know the definition of perseveranza Councilor?" _

"Let me guess? An excuse to be annoying Mister King?" She smirked at some of her female coworkers who laughed in their hands.

"_It's Italian for perseverance which is a continued steady belief or efforts, withstanding discouragement or difficulty; persistence." _

"Okay Rosetta Stone how do I get rid of you?"

"_Lunch on Sunday and you can barely call that a date. You do that with Donner every time he doesn't want to order take out."_

She smirked as she looked at Donner who held a disgusted look on his face "I guess I can do Sunday."

"_You forgot to say over. Over."_

"This conversation's over as soon as you give me the details."

"_Two o'clock North Starling Restaurant near the docks. Over and out." _

Before Laurel could counter the line went dead and another box was placed in front of her, the courier drew his tablet again and she signed, gently shaking the box.

"Wonder what that could be." One of her co-workers said

Laurel gently opened it revealing a red strapless dress where the skirt would go up to her knees.

"Well, I guess you won't be in court." Adam rolled his eyes

**Alright, big cliffhanger ending there and this is the start of my two parter, don't worry, the date with Arthur and Laurel will happen later on, though the events of the next chapter definitely do impact how that date goes, but I'll leave it up to you guys to wait. **

**Now whats worse is that the flashback on the island was almost exactly how I wrote it from Wednesday nights episode! I'm so angry but I'm sure I can pick it up and add a few twists on it. I also hope everyone liked the Will Smith movie _Hitch _reference I put in at the end there, I know its a chick flick but I like the movie.**

**Anyway, stay tuned everyone! I promise I will be pulling an Arrow with a end of the year cliffhanger and then I'll pick it up again once the new year hits.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Toyman's Arrow Part 2

Killer Croc slept in pain, the wounds he had endured from a new days prior were healing but not by that much.

"Hello Brother."

Croc's eyes immediately snapped open, the red hue of his orbs focused on the source of the voice, a person wearing a black trench coat over a red shirt, their head was concealed by an orange mask with tusks on the front where their mouth would be.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The figure snapped his fingers and a balding man with dark hair appeared beside him, the masked man looked at the lock and snapped it in half with his foot, the balding man stepped inside of Croc's cell, he was about to charge when an electrical current went through his neck.

"Ah I see, you can't escape this time, do not worry Brother, we will make you stronger."

"You really think I'm going to trust you…" Croc growled "After you let them lock me in here!"

"The Dark Archer's return was not foreseeable, but you don't need to worry, he'll be gone soon enough and the Vigilante…he'll be dealt with."

The balding man held a needle in his hand, he gently approached Croc who glared "And what is this?"

"A miracle." The masked man spoke

The balding man stabbed Croc in the arm, who back handed him in sure fury, he began to scream out in pain as the cell door was shut.

"If he survives sir?"

"He'll prove to be a valuable asset in the months to come, if he doesn't…we'll find another."

"Yes Brother Blood."

* * *

The Dark Archer began to run through the sewers, his feet began to take him as he held onto his black Oneida Kestrel compound bow tightly as he approached Croc's cell.

"Jones? Jones? We need to talk." The Dark Archer approached Croc's cell and that's when his eyes went wide

The cell door was broken open, the metal key lock was lying in a pool of water and Croc was gone, the metal shock collar around his neck was broken and inside his cell.

He tapped his ear "Send a tip to Lance, tell him that Croc's gone."

* * *

Arthur King walked into his new condo, while his old one was being repaired, he was able to move what was left of his things into his new one. He sat down on the couch when a knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

He walked over to the door and opened it, Laurel stood on the other side with a folder tucked in her arm.

"Laurel, what are you doing here?" Arthur smiled "Our date isn't until Sunday."

"Just wanted to come by and see the new place…" Laurel walked inside and turned to face him "Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"What are you talking about?"

She held up the folder and handed it to him, Arthur took it and opened the front, looking over the contents and his blue eyes went wide "How did you find this?"

"All it took was a little digging." Laurel sneered

"What do you want from me Laurel?"

"I don't know why you're in Starling Arthur, but whatever reason it is, you are to end it, leave this city…and never come back." Laurel challenged "I will not have any more of you in my city."

"I don't have any intentions of it Miss Lance." Arthur kept his distance "I'm in work with the city council to perform a corporate buy out of the Merlyn Global Group…and I intend to see it done."

"You either leave Arthur….or I swear, this will hit the press by tomorrow."

"You're lucky then Laurel." Arthur grabbed his Wall Street style sport jacket "I have a public serving announcement to attend. You'll get what you want."

* * *

Reporters flashed their cameras as Arthur spoke up into the microphone, Oliver stood off to the side with Diggle, and Laurel sat within the crowd next to Donner, who carried a content look on his face, even Sebastian Blood sat in the far corner, watching Arthur with several police officers near him…including Daily.

"People of Starling…you have suffered through a lot over the course of these last few months, Malcolm Merlyn destroying half of the Glades, the Moira Queen trial and the return of Count Vertigo…but I wish to help you with your suffering." He stepped away from the podium he stood on and attached his mobile mic "This city has suffered and suffered, but I want to help anyway I can, which is why starting today…The Merlyn Global Group will become no more, I am buying out the company….and it will be replaced by a new company named Merlyn Enterprises."

The reporters looked on in sheer shock, the revelation even caught Oliver's attention as he watched.

"For the people to trust in me, I have to trust in you…my name…is not Arthur King, at least not legally, my real name is Nicholas Merlyn, the son of Malcolm Merlyn."

This caught everyone's attention, reporters and members of the crowd alike, the members of the security detail approached as some of the people began to rise in an attempt at getting to him.

"People please, allow me to explain, I did not know my father, this monster who killed your city, I grew up in foster care about Malcolm abandoned me. But I do not intend to hurt any of you, or hurt your city, in fact, I want to help it."

"That's what Merlyn said! Then he killed five hundred people!" A patron shouted

"I understand all of this, I was just as devastated as you when I found out," Nick spoke up "Now please, I am speaking with the city council, and with their okay, which I have received, I am buying the remnants of the Glades, I intend to fix it, and even reopen Rebecca Merlyn's clinic in the Glades, we will make them better, while yes, money cannot fix the amount of graves that have filled up the graveyards, we can at least put the stitches in the scar and we can set ourselves up for success."

He looked at Laurel who was watching him; her was blood red, he couldn't tell if it was out of anger…or disappointed.

"And I intend to do one more thing, a project I've had my eye on for the last few months…I intend to rebuild CNRI as well, and rename it for the man who was murdered in that very building, the building will be restored brick for brick and be renamed the Thomas Merlyn memorial building, and the only thing that can go into it is CNRI." Nicholas looked out "I cannot ask for you to forgive my family, all I ask is that you do not condemn me to the stake without getting to know me, I think a lot of you will find that I'm a person who is the exact opposite of Malcolm and with that…I thank you for your time."

Nicholas walked out and toward his town car, his eyes kept on Laurel as his security detail surrounded him while the reporters began to speak up and speak to their cameras.

* * *

The Dark Archer stood out and watched the DA building, his eyes focused in on Laurel, then glanced at Donner, he knew there was some sort of whispering going on and Donner was manipulating Laurel.

"Hello Dark Archer…or do you prefer I call you by your real name?"

An arrow was primed and he quickly turned to come face to face with Winslow Schott, a wind up clapping monkey was in his hand.

"Schott, you have some nerve showing your face around me."

"I could say the same about you…Nicholas Merlyn."

His eyes widened and he undid his arrow and lowered his hood revealing Nicholas Merlyn's face, black war paint was over his eyes "What do you want Schott?"

"Oh a lot of things, but mostly…I wanted to say goodbye, I'm going to be leaving Starling…leaving the country."

"And I would allow that…why?"

"Simple, if you want to know my employer and…" he threw the monkey in the air and caught it "If you don't want me to blow up your girlfriend, you will not pursue me."

"You did it…" Nicholas growled "You put the apparatus on Felicity Smoak…." He raised his hood and primed another arrow "Who else in this city follows you?"

"Oh I'm sure you'll find out eventually in fact…why else did you have to reveal who you really are?" The Toyman smiled

He growled and fired, only for the Toyman to dodge and disappear into the shadows, though not without leaving a gift, the monkey was clapping its arms and was slowly winding down, Nicholas growled and kicked it, firing another arrow and the explosion caught the attention of the DA's office, including Laurel.

It suddenly dawned on him what was happening, who was Schott's new follower "I'm sorry Laurel."

With that he turned and disappeared with a crossbow bolt into the air.

**Well, now we're looking into the secrets coming out! Now things are going to move forward, Laurel's current situation with her pill popping and drinking will play a big part in the story and I am going to confirm that Brother Blood will be the center antagonist of this story I can confirm it. Stay tuned for more, we're slowly heading up to the next pairing with Barry and Felicity.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Toyman's Arrow Part 3

"You told her!?"

Lucas Carr snapped his fingers as Nicholas slowly paced around the floor of their base which had several tables, one was used for crafting new arrows, another was used for forensic equipment and a third which was used, a giant touch screen monitor with several computers in the back, a display where Nick's archer costume sat behind a glass display and his bow was kept on a weapons rack along with his arrows.

"Luke, it was either I said something or she went to the press with it." Nick growled "I thought it would be easier this way."

"I still say you should have killed him." Another voice picked up, her Australian accent was extremely thick

Both of the men turned to the final person of their group, she sat in the back along a crate her back against the cool surface of the concrete wall, a silver rock was gliding with a small sound along the edge of a curved sword, another was strapped to her back, her long silver blonde hair was held back in a ponytail, her ice blue eyes watched them as she stood, sheathing her sword but kept her back pressed.

"I don't think we have any other reasons to kill Ravager." Luke reminded her "It's not like we have to fight the entire…"

"Don't think we won't have a fight if we can't do something about the Toyman Lucas." Nick looked at him as he walked over to his costume, he didn't take it out, but just let his eyes watch it

"So what are you proposing Merlyn?"

"We find the Toyman…and we don't let him live." He looked at Ravager "I'm going to need your help with this…but I have a stop to make before we go hunting."

* * *

The DA's office was next on his list, he casually walked through the front door, his eyes watching as people were staring at him, he knew why they were staring…it's not every day the son of Malcolm Merlyn walks into the District Attorney's office.

The secretary's desk was full of papers and the computer was flashing as Merlyn approached "Good morning, I'm here to see Councilor Lance."

"Your name?"

"Nicholas Merlyn." His eyes went wide

There he sat…the Toyman looked up at him with a smile on his face "Oh I'm sure the Councilor would love to see you Mister Merlyn, she's at her desk, shall I let her…"

"No." Nicholas growled "I want to surprise her."

"Very well sir."

He glared at Schott, he knew the Toyman was there for a reason, but for now, he would just play along as he progressed up the stairs.

Phones were ringing and various people were walking around and talking, to Nick, this seemed more like Wall Street then a DA's office, then he spotted her, Laurel was sitting at her desk going over some papers, it had been a few days since the whole blow up…and with the Toyman here, he knew something was wrong.

He took a breath and opened the door, their eyes met and Nick felt his heart beat rapidly, he knew he had to act casual and just be himself.

"Good morning Laurel."

"Arthur…or do you prefer Nicholas?" She looked at him

He chuckled "You can call me whatever you want." He sat down in front of her "I was hoping we could talk."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Actually I think there is, ever since you found out who I was there's been a wedge between us and I was hoping we could get rid of it."

"And what if I don't?"

"Look, I know about you and my half-brother, I know you and Tommy were together until May…and I know how difficult it is for you to be dating someone who has the same last name as the man who destroyed this city…and the man who took your heart."

She glared at him "You really think it's that easy don't you? To just get over this, you think I can just get over Tommy?" She stood and went over to a filing cabinet

"Laurel I know how it feels to lose the one you love, you feel a void in your heart that you cannot get rid of. Trust me, I know how it feels and I know how it feels if you can't get out of the fire of pain."

"Seems pretty philosophical coming from you." Laurel's gaze softened

"I tend to surprise people a lot Laurel, look, I know it'll take a while, but I just want you to know…I'm going to wait as long as it takes." Nick smiled up at her

With a flash, the power went out, Nick looked over where Laurel was standing and felt something touch him, and he knew it was her hand, he gently gripped it, letting his fingers touch against her knuckles, he didn't know it but she was smiling, this moment, it felt…safe.

Whispers could be heard throughout the halls, footsteps were moving fast.

"Get the emergency generators online now!" Nick could hear Donner order over his earpiece

Gun fire followed, Nick followed instinct and pulled Laurel down with him as the bullets hit the filing cabinet Laurel was standing by, he watched as without a word they slowly moved, they were looking for something he knew it.

The lights began to flicker on and then off, he knew that if he was to strike…now was the time.

"I'm sorry Laurel." He whispered as he began to move

With the second flash of the generator, he moved quickly they could hear him move, one aimed a shotgun forward, he grabbed it and slammed it into the thug's jaw, as the second turned, and the gun was thrown into his face sending him to the ground. He felt a third one slam something hard into the side of his head.

By the time the third flicker happened, he slammed the head of the next two and when the lights finally turned on, Nick stood over the four bodies, they lay where they landed, knocked out and groaning in pain.

"Laurel I think you need to call your father."

* * *

Police were on sight with Detectives were taking statements from the various people as Nick sat in a chair near Laurel's desk as she was talking to her father, he noticed her purse was laying on the floor, the contents scattered.

As she walked over, he squatted down and began to put everything back, that was when he noticed it, a bottle of pills were on the floor…and it was open, a few were on the floor, he picked two up but slipped one into his pocket.

"Where did you get that?"

Nick looked up to Laurel standing over him "It was on the floor, allergy pills I take it?"

"Yup, they have been acting up lately." Laurel put a false smile on her face

"Everything was on the ground." He stood and held her purse out "I figured I would pick it up for you."

She smiled and noticed something, his forehead was bleeding "Here." She pulled out a tissue from one of the pockets and dapped at his forehead "Where did you learn to fight?"

"My adopted father Leo King was a former Navy SEAL, he taught me hand to hand combat and self-defense." He smiled at her "I heard you tried taking a crack at the copy-cat archers after they killed the mayor back in October. Where did you learn that?"

"My father." She motioned to Quentin "Being the daughter of a cop has its requirements in life."

He smiled and that was when he spotted it, hidden behind the long honey brown locks of hair was the round apparatus belonging to the Toyman, he knew he had to get it.

"Laurel, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." She smiled gently at him

"What do you know about a man named the Toyman?"

"Not much…aside from what happened with Felicity, one of Oliver's employees why?"

"Well," he reached through her hair and gently pulled the apparatus off "He made you a victim."

With it pulled from her neck, Laurel's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward, her forehead touching his shoulder.

"Laurel!? What the hell did you do?" Quentin looked at Nick

"This, belongs to him." He showed Quentin the device "It's a mind control device, your daughter fell for it hook line and sinker, can you take her home? I'm going to head to the station and deliver this to Lieutenant Pike."

"Sure." Quentin took Laurel from him as he stormed out, his fingers were immediately on his phone

"Luke, I need to meet now, also, I need you to run something for me."

* * *

Winslow Schott sat in his hotel room, reading over the paperwork he had received, it was a shame Merlyn had interfered…Laurel was a good pet to manipulate and it was a shame she couldn't be of more use, but he had already leaked the action online, she would be shamed and threatened with the loss of her job soon.

"I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to show up." Schott spoke up

The Dark Archer walked out of the shadows "Do you know why I'm here?"

"I can guess, it's to take revenge for what I've done to your little girlfriend huh?"

"It goes beyond that, you think those papers will get you free? You're going to disappear one way or another."

"I highly doubt that one Merlyn."

"Then allow me to show you how." He primed an arrow and fired which caused Schott to run for the window and climb up the fire escape

Merlyn ran up the stairs of the hotel as fast as he could, any occasion he could see Schott he fired an arrow but each one missed, a sigh of frustration escaped his lips as he moved up to the roof. There he was, Schott was standing at the roof looking down.

"You think I'm going to let you put me in Iron Heights?"

"Of course not, you're going to go in a body bag."

"You don't have to do this."

The Dark Archer turned to the Arrow approaching, a look of frustration on his face.

"You can't save this city on compassion." The Dark Archer growled as his concealer turned on

"He should stand trial."

"He has ruined the lives of those who have been the most successful. Felicity Smoak, head of the IT department of Queen Consolidated, now she's barely employed. Laurel Lance, assistant DA, now possibly losing her job about what it was that Schott just uploaded. Any lawyer will be met with his control and he will walk. You can either help me or I'm going to put you down."

"I won't help you."

"Then I'll handle you once I'm done with him."

He turned to see Schott was gone, he was running along the roof back toward the door, Merlyn primed two arrows and fired, the arrows soared and slammed into Schott's knee caps he smiled and walked over to him.

"Merlyn…" Schott whispered "Spare me please."

"Sorry Toyman, you just caused your last terror."

"Oh no, I'm just getting started."

His foot hit something, he felt it, he looked down and below him was a wind up monkey, it was slowly turning down its pace, that's when his eyes went wide. The explosion sent him backwards a few feet, he wasn't injured but he had managed to move before he was taken by the explosion. Within seconds, Oliver was standing over him and a hand went to remove his hood. A flechette was pulled and slammed into Oliver's leg

Oliver winced in pain and within seconds, Merlyn was on his feet, as Oliver was about to speak, a sword was against his back.

"Don't move Queen, or you get stabbed." Her Australian accent was thick

Ravager moved from Oliver and walked toward Nick, her outfit was a white suit with black boots and gloves with an orange belt over her chest, a bandana mask was over her face, half orange, half black, her silver hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Who are you people?"

"We're the people who will save this city Queen." The Archer looked at him "I'm more than prepared to kill you. As I said, this city is dying…and you will be its curse."

And then they were gone in a second as the shadows began to creep over the building. As Oliver looked toward the Toyman, he was dead, smoke coming off of his charred body.

* * *

"I got a hit on that pill you gave me." Lucas looked at the white pill under a magnifying glass

"And?"

"It's Oxycodone."

"She's on oxy?"

"And if I can access the DEA reports, she's been on it for a while." Lucas frowned as he began to click on the computer

Nick rubbed his temples as his phone began to ring, he smiled when he saw who it was "Hey, I was just thinking about you."

"_Ha-ha, your girlfriend is a controlled by a terrorist and you're thinking about me?"_

"You know it." Nick smiled "Listen, I know you were under the control of the Toyman when we talked about it…but are we still on for Sunday?"

"_Make it dinner and not lunch and you have a deal."_

"Great, I'll pick you up at seven." Nick smiled "Have a good sleep Laurel."

"_You too Nick…and thank you."_

**Okay, nice little fluff to end the chapter, sorry this took so long, I've had too many work days and next week is not going to be any better. I'm going to be taking a week off due to it being Christmas and a busy RL week. So for now, merry Christmas everyone, I hope you enjoy and I'll see you New Years Week with chapter 7 which will be a heavy Nick Merlyn/Laurel fluff chapter where a lot of things are going to be resolved.**


	7. Chapter 7: Promise not to leave

Sunday had finally arrived, things had actually been quiet in Starling City, no criminals running around and things with the Arrow were quiet for about three days and for Nick…it was nerve racking.

Since the Toyman's demise, he had managed to begin construction of the buildings within the Glades and even one special project he had planned behind the radar, not even the board members of his company knew about it.

Now he was standing outside of Laurel's apartment, he wore a black t-shirt polo with a pair of jeans over his legs, he slowly paced around the carpet of the hallway. He hadn't felt this nervous before…at least not for a long time.

The phone in his pocket began to vibrate, the immediate alert that something was going on, if it was someone from the office, he would have to yell, let alone he knew that eventually he would have to step into Queen's Consolidated after what happened with Schott, whose body was never found…thanks to Rose.

As he pulled out his phone, a sigh escaped from his lips as Luke's name came up on his caller ID, he knew he'd have to kill the hacker eventually.

"What Luke? I told you I'm kind of busy."

"_Just wanted to make sure everything was okay boss. Plus…I found something that might catch your attention."_

"What do you mean?"

"_Do you remember Blockbuster in Bludhaven? Remember what he was injected with?"_

"Do you mean to tell me…?"

"_I'm afraid so boss, looks like…"_

The door behind him began to open and Nick quickly hung up his phone and slipped it into his pocket as he began to turn, his eyes went wide, there was Laurel, standing in the door way with the dress he picked out on with matching colored heels. She looked simply stunning, a smile spread on Laurel's face when she saw the red tint spread on Merlyn's cheeks.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Just one of the people overlooking the construction, no need to worry." A smile spread on his face as he held up his arm

Laurel looked at him with a gentle tone in her eyes as she grabbed her trench coat and threw her arm through his as he walked with her.

"So tell me, what exactly do you hope to gain with revealing who you really are?"

* * *

Nick sat across from her as the ocean splashing along the coast while they were sitting in a table on the outdoor seating, the breeze gently moving the honey brown locks of Laurel's hair. It was secluded, while yes, he did get the occasional glance, he imagined it was because of his last name and his heritage but the waitress was friendly, always smiling when she approached, he thought it was because she was serving the Assistant District Attorney

"I don't intend to do anything with it. As I seem to recall, you threatened me to leave Starling City or you'd expose my identity."

Laurel rolled her eyes and took a sip from her water glass "The Toyman's decision, not mine…" She gently rubbed her temple

"Everything okay?"

"I take it you didn't see the paper this morning?"

"No…what happened?"

"It basically said I was…compromised, that I intentionally helped Schott escape by giving him the witness protection program."

Nick was silent, he just listened to Laurel with a heavy heart, it was his fault; she was going to lose her job because of him, because he didn't kill the Toyman when he had the chance, because he hesitated, because he wouldn't hurt Laurel, and now he was living to regret it.

"Everything okay Nicholas?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good, just worried for you is all."

"I'll be fine, maybe it's time I left Starling, I know there really isn't anything left for me here."

"What about your father?" Nick asked "You still have him. I would figure someone who lost their sister and watched as their parents split apart."

"I know he's here, but all I feel is pain, my ex-boyfriend cheating on me, my sister dying, my parent's divorcing, my boyfriend dying for me…I never thought I deserved it." She took her eyes away from Nick and let them gaze out at the water

He sighed and folded his arms over his chest "No person deserves such pain, but that doesn't mean he has to punish yourself for what happened."

* * *

For the rest of the lunch there were long periods of silence, Nick didn't want to keep banging the nail on the head about Tommy, he could see it, while her words were one thing, her brown eyes were crying in pain, he couldn't take it, he knew if he continued with this, he would be hurting Laurel. The rain had begun to pound on the window in the hallway, thunder rumbled from the blackened night sky.

As they approached her door again, he let a sigh escape his lips followed by a smile "Well, I hope I wasn't too much of a brooding mess."

"Of course not. It was…nice, nice to do something like this."

Nick looked at her "Laurel…" he rubbed the back of his neck, it had been years since he did something like this "I'm hoping to see you again, and hopefully get to know more about you. Not the DA you."

She rolled her eyes and looked at a point on the wall "You wouldn't like her."

"Why not? I think I see a lot of her right now."

"The side of me you don't want to meet is the one people run away from." She looked into his blue eyes and all Nick could see was sadness, her voice hitched as she spoke again "The side of me that let my boyfriend cheat on me with my sister, watched as my mother abandoned me and drove off, the side that watched my father climb into a bottle and fell on every case that was put on his desk…and the side that let Tommy die because I was too stubborn to leave some case work behind."

"Laurel…"

"You say you want to see the real me? To be honest, I don't want to be her anymore, because the second you see who I am, you'll walk out on me too."

As she began to walk past him, Nick's face changed, his hand clutched onto her arm, his eyes meeting hers, the ice blue orbs radiating with determination, though not the same determination he would have as he put an arrow into someone, determination to help, to not be a beacon of hope, but to show how dedicated he was.

"I don't know where this is all coming from Laurel, but I can assure you…I'm not going anywhere, the only time I will leave unless you send me away, the moment those words escape your lips, than I will leave and never come back. One thing you need to learn about me, I can be very understanding in these types of situations, and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes but I want to help."

Laurel snapped her arm out of his grasp "You want to help, then leave me be. I'll come to you."

With those final words, she unlocked her door and slammed it closed, leaving Nick outside of her apartment, a pit feeling had entered his gut as well as his heart, he had begun to care about the assistant district attorney, but he respected her word, he walked out of the hallway to his phone going off.

He turned it on "Luke, what's up?"

"_We have a problem, it just happened half an hour ago."_

* * *

_**Half an hour prior…**_

The lighting struck again as the two security members of Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division walked down the halls again, it was a long night on guard patrol, but it had to be done, the equipment the company had was worth millions in the wrong hands.

As they approached a wooden wall, there was a large bang that came from the other side.

"What was that?"

As they looked toward the door, there was another bang, and then a third, the wooden support beams began to break until finally…half of the door came down.

The one responsible moved with lighting fast speeds as the bullets began to fire against it, striking one of the security guards in the chest and sends him slamming into a series of chemical drums, the second was grabbed by throat and lifted as he struggled against his grip, the guard could feel the breathe leaving his lungs as the vice grip of a hand tightened harder until finally he was tossed into a metal object and was then sent into another set of drums, the final breath of life was cast as the figure moved past him.

* * *

He slept in his bed across town, for Nick, he knew sleeping wasn't really a good option, but he knew it had to be done, he needed to sleep, one night of not putting on the hood would do him some good.

The sound sleep was broken by his phone going off, Nick rubbed his eyes as he grabbed ahold of his phone and turned it on "Ugh…Nick speaking."

"_It's me…Laurel…I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier."_

"Don't worry about it Laurel. Its fine, I understand what you're going through isn't easy, mourning along with the stress of your job…"

That was when the line went dead, Laurel wasn't talking "Laurel? Laurel?"

The race down the street to Laurel's apartment made Nick realize how many laws he was breaking, not stopping at stop signs, racing through red light roads, going well over the speed limit.

He skidded to a halt as he raced into her hotel complex and bolted up the stairs in his running shoes, looking down the hall as the rain began to pour like a monsoon outside of the window, looking at the door, it was unlocked, he opened it and stepped inside calmly, looking inside of her apartment, there wasn't any sign of a break in, nothing was taken, but as he walked to her room, his eyes went wide.

Wine spilled onto the bed sheets, broken glass was on the ground and Laurel was passed out on her bed, her cell phone on the ground beside her right hand, Nick ran over and looked at her night side table, the bottle of pills was opened.

"Laurel! Come on Laurel, damn it."

Nick immediately propped her head up "I've already lost one person I care about…I can't lose another!"

She over dosed, he knew she did, it may not have suffocated her, but it was enough to almost kill her, the wine didn't help any at all. Air into her lungs didn't help at all, and he knew the second he called her father about this…he wasn't sure what would happen and he didn't want to find out.

"Come on fight!" Nick yelled

With that one phrase, she coughed and her breath hitched as she slowly opened her eyes "I had a feeling drugs weren't fun." He smiled down at her

"What are you doing here?"

"The line went dead, I didn't…."

She kissed him, he didn't know what to make of it, but he could tell she was not desperate, but almost looking for redemption, like it was what she needed to be able to move forward.

As they parted for air, Nick could only look at her "What's wrong?"

"You remember when I said everyone leaves?"

He nodded silently in response, keeping his composure.

"Just promise me you won't leave."

He smiled gently and wiped a stray tear from her face "I promise, I'm not going anywhere."

**Was this chapter perfect? Probabily not, I know I might get some steam for how I portrayed Laurel and the OD part, but I wanted to show just how broken Laurel is and now, things for her will be moving forward as the story progresses, so I hope everyone enjoys and I promise, I will try to update more frequently now that my RL is starting to let up.**


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